Apparatus and method for controlling portable terminal

ABSTRACT

Provided is an apparatus and method for controlling a portable terminal. The apparatus includes a contact sensing unit which senses an area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal, a recognizing unit which recognizes a function mode of the portable terminal based on information about the contacted area sensed by the contact sensing unit, and a control unit which changes the portable terminal to a function mode recognized by the recognizing unit. Since a function mode of the portable terminal is controlled according to the way a user holds the portable terminal, convenience of changing a function mode of the portable terminal is provided through a single manipulation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit from Korean Patent Application No.10-2004-0095293 filed on Nov. 19, 2004 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controllinga portable terminal and, more particularly, to an apparatus and methodfor controlling a portable terminal, in which a function mode of theportable terminal is changed according to the way in which a user holdsthe portable terminal.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the increasingly widespread use of portable terminals such ascellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDA), portableterminals are now being designed to perform multiple functions. Forexample, a cellular phone was originally a terminal having a callfunction, but it has recently evolved to incorporate a short messageservice (SMS), a digital camera, an MP3 player, and moving pictureplayback. Thus, users can enjoy the convenience of a variety offunctions without toting a plethora of devices.

In general, to operate a portable terminal having a plurality offunctions in a specific function mode, a user searches for the specificfunction mode in which a desired function is implemented by manipulatinga keypad or a contact pad included in the portable terminal and commandsthe terminal to change to the specific function mode.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a user manipulates a direction key 20included in a portable terminal while looking at a menu screen providedthrough a display unit 10 of the portable terminal to search for adesired function mode. Once the desired function mode is found throughthe display unit 10, the user can select the desired function mode bymanipulating a selection button 30. Upon selection of the function mode,the portable terminal enters the selected function mode.

However, in such a conventional technique, a user has to experience theinconvenience of going through a multi-stage key input process to changea portable terminal to a desired function mode.

To facilitate a mode change of a portable terminal, hot keys 41 and 42are included in the portable terminal. Key values for changing theportable terminal to specific function modes are mapped to the hot keys41 and 42. Thus, the user can change the portable terminal to a desiredfunction mode through manipulation of the hot keys 41 and 42.

However, when using the hot keys 41 and 42, a user who is unaccustomedto the use of the portable terminal should be fully aware of which hotkey is mapped to which function mode. In addition, since the number ofhot keys that can be included in a portable terminal is limited,assigning hot keys to every function mode of the portable terminalwastes space in a key interface included in the portable terminal.

Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0315143, titled “Apparatus forControlling Menu Using Position Sensor of Mobile CommunicationTerminal”, discloses an apparatus for controlling a menu, which detectsmotion or the position of a portable terminal held in a user's handusing a predetermined sensor and controls a direction key of theportable terminal or a function mode searching process for changing afunction mode of the portable terminal according to the detectionresults. However, when using the disclosed apparatus, a user has tomanipulate a portable terminal a number of times to select a specificfunction mode of the portable terminal until the specific function modeof the portable terminal is found. Moreover, even after the specificfunction mode is found, the user has to operate or effect a mode changeusing a selection button included in the portable terminal to change theportable terminal to the specific function mode. As a result, even whenusing the disclosed apparatus, the user has to experiences theinconvenience of manipulating the portable terminal through multiplestages to change a function mode of the portable terminal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparentfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The present invention provides an apparatus and method for controlling aportable terminal, in which a function mode of the portable terminal ischanged using information that is acquired due to user's holding of theportable terminal, thereby allowing a user to change a function mode ofthe portable terminal through a single manipulation.

The above stated object as well as other objects, features andadvantages, of the present invention will become clear to those skilledin the art upon review of the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anapparatus for controlling a portable terminal apparatus, the apparatusincluding a contact sensing unit which senses an area of an externalsurface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holdsthe portable terminal, a recognizing unit which recognizes a functionmode of the portable terminal based on information about the contactedarea sensed by the contact sensing unit, and a control unit whichchanges the portable terminal to a function mode recognized by therecognizing unit.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod for controlling a portable terminal, the method including (a)sensing an area of an external surface of the portable terminalcontacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal, (b)recognizing a function mode of the portable terminal using informationabout the contacted area sensed by the contact sensing unit, and (c)changing the portable terminal to a function mode recognized by therecognizing unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a conventional process of changing afunction mode of a portable terminal;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a relationship between different ways ofholding a portable terminal and function modes of the portable terminal;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling a portableterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of a contact sensing unit shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5A is a view for explaining a contact sensing unit of an apparatusfor controlling a portable terminal according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5B is a chart explaining information about a user-contacted area,which is output by the contact sensing unit;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a motion sensing unit of an apparatusfor controlling a portable terminal according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a detailed block diagram of a recognizing unit shown in FIG.3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of controlling a portableterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates function modes of a portable terminal to berecognized through simulation; and

FIGS. 10A to 10D are views for explaining contact informationcorresponding to function modes of a portable terminal for simulation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods ofaccomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference tothe following detailed description of preferred embodiments and theaccompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as being limited tothe embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are providedso that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fullyconvey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and thepresent invention will only be defined by the appended claims. Likereference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a relationship between different ways ofholding a portable terminal and function modes of the portable terminal.

The portable terminal can have various function modes such as a callmode, an SMS mode, and a digital camera mode. When a user uses theportable terminal, the way in which he or she holds the portableterminal varies according to the desired function mode of the portableterminal, as shown in FIG. 2. In the present invention, informationabout the way in which the user holds a portable terminal (which will bereferred to as holding information) may be used as control informationfor recognizing a function mode desired by the user and changing theportable terminal to the recognized function mode. Thus, according tothe present invention, a user-desired function mode of a portableterminal can be recognized according to the holding information.

The holding information may be information about an area of the externalsurface of a portable terminal contacted by a user (specifically, by thehand of a user who holds the portable terminal). This information willbe referred to as contact information. In addition, the holdinginformation may be information about an angle of rotation or theorientation of a portable terminal (which will be referred to as motioninformation) when the portable terminal rotates with respect to apredetermined reference axis that is preset in the portable terminal orthe portable terminal is inclined by a predetermined angle with respectto the gravity direction as the user holds the portable terminal.

Information about whether an external device is attached to or detachedfrom the portable terminal may also be used as control information forrecognizing a function mode desired by the user, along with the holdinginformation including the contact information and the motioninformation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling a portableterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The apparatus for controlling a portable terminal includes a contactsensing unit 110 that senses a user's contact area; a motion sensingunit 120 that senses motion (e.g., rotation or orientation) of theportable terminal; an external device sensing unit 130 that sensesattachment or detachment of an external device; a recognizing unit 140that recognizes a function mode of the portable terminal usinginformation sensed by the contact sensing unit 110, the motion sensingunit 120, and the external device sensing unit 130; a user interfaceunit 150 to which a control command is input from the user; and acontrol unit 160 that changes the portable terminal to a function moderecognized by the recognizing unit 140.

The contact sensing unit 110 senses an area of the external surface ofthe portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portableterminal. To this end, the contact sensing unit 110 includes one or morecontact sensors capable of sensing a user's contact. Each of the contactsensors may be positioned on the surface of the portable terminal. Anexample of such a configuration will be described later with referenceto FIG. 5A.

The contact sensors may be contact-type sensors that sense a directcontact with the user, but are not limited thereto. Thus, the contactsensors may be contactless sensors capable of sensing that a user's body(specifically, a user's hand) is within a predetermined distance withoutbeing directly contacted by the user and determining that the contactoccurs.

Hereinafter, the contact sensing unit 110 will be described in detailwith reference to FIGS. 4 through 5B.

FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of the contact sensing unit 110 shownin FIG. 3.

The contact sensing unit 110 includes one or more contact sensors 112and a contact signal processor 114. The contact sensors 112 sense auser's contact and output a signal indicating the contact to the contactsignal processor 114. The contact sensors 112 may be contact-typesensors or contactless sensors as described above.

The contact signal processor 114 combines signals indicating contact,which are provided from the contact sensors 112, and provides thecombination result to the recognizing unit 140 as contact information.An example of contact information provided by the contact signalprocessor 114 to the recognizing unit 140 will be described later withreference to FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5A is a development view of a portable terminal that is assumed tobe a rectangular parallelepiped. Blocks in the development view indicatecontact sensors S1 through S22 on the surface of the portable terminal,which are capable of sensing a user's contact. Once the contact sensorsS1 through S22 sense a user's contact, the contact signal processor 114provides the contact information to the recognizing unit 140.

For example, each of the contact sensors S1 through S22 shown in FIG. 5Aoutputs a signal indicating a user's contact, and the contact signalprocessor 114 combines signals output from the contact sensors S1through S22 into one bit sequence to generate the contact informationand provides the contact information to the recognizing unit 140. Anexample of the contact information is shown in FIG. 5B.

When the user holds the portable terminal as shown in FIG. 5A, thecontact sensors S1 through S22 output signals indicating a user'scontact as shown in FIG. 5B. In FIG. 5B, a ‘high’ signal indicates acorresponding contact sensor is contacted by the user and a ‘low’ signalindicates a corresponding contact sensor is not contacted by the user.In FIG. 5B, the contact sensors S5, S7, S9, S10, S11, S12, S15, S16,S17, S20, S21, and S22 that are shown as being contacted by the user inFIG. 5A output ‘high’ signals. The contact information provided to therecognizing unit 140 may be a bit sequence composed of signals outputfrom the contact sensors. In FIG. 5B, a bit sequence composed of 1s(‘highs’) and 0s (‘lows’) is shown. The recognizing unit 140 to whichthe bit sequence is input obtains information about a user-contactedarea.

In FIG. 5A, the contact sensors S1 through S22 are mounted over theentire surface of the portable terminal, but can be mounted mainly in aspecific area of the portable terminal (e.g., an area that is frequentlycontacted by the user) according to the characteristic of the portableterminal. In addition, the number of contact sensors mounted on thesurface of the portable terminal according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is not limited to the number of contact sensors shownin FIG. 5A.

The motion sensing unit 120 senses a motion of the portable terminal,caused by user's holding of the portable terminal. More specifically, asthe user holds the portable terminal, if the portable terminal rotateswith respect to a predetermined reference axis or is inclined by apredetermined angle with respect to the gravity direction, the motionsensing unit 120 senses rotation of the portable terminal and anorientation with respect to the gravity direction.

To this end, the motion sensing unit 120 can include an inertial sensoror an acceleration sensor manufactured using a mechanical or microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) technique. For example, if the motionsensing unit 120 is manufactured using a gyroscope, it can measure anangle through which the portable terminal rotates. If the motion sensingunit 120 is manufactured using an MEMS acceleration sensor, it canmeasure not only an angle through which the portable terminal rotatesbut also an angle between the predetermined reference axis of theportable terminal and the gravity direction, caused by inclination ofthe portable terminal.

For example, the motion sensing unit 120 may include inertial sensors(not shown) mounted along three reference axes (x, y, and z) that areorthogonal to one another as shown in FIG. 6. Thus, when the portableterminal moves as the user holds the portable terminal, a rotation angleof the portable terminal with respect to each of the three referenceaxes can be measured. Alternatively, if acceleration sensors areincluded in the portable terminal of FIG. 6, an orientation of theportable terminal can be sensed by measuring an angle of each of thethree reference axes with respect to the gravity direction. Motioninformation sensed by the motion sensing unit 120 is provided to therecognizing unit 140.

Although rotation and/or an orientation of the portable terminal withrespect to three orthogonal reference axes (x, y, and z) is sensed inFIG. 6, the present invention is not limited thereto and rotation or anorientation of the portable terminal with respect to more than or lessthan three reference axes may be sensed according to an aspect of thepresent invention.

The external device sensing unit 130 senses attachment or detachment ofthe external device. The external device is a device such as an earphoneor a secure digital (SD) card that can be attached to the portableterminal in order for the user to use the portable terminal in aspecific function mode. For example, when the user desires to use theportable terminal in an MP3 player mode, the user may connect anearphone to the portable terminal and the external device sensing unit130 senses attachment or detachment of the earphone. The user may attacha portable storage device such as an SD card or a multi media card (MMC)that stores moving picture data or license for moving picture playbackto the portable terminal to play the moving picture data using theportable terminal. Then, the external device sensing unit 130 may senseattachment or detachment of the portable storage device. Informationsensed by the external device sensing unit 130 is provided to therecognizing unit 140 and may be used as control information forrecognizing a function mode of the portable terminal.

The recognizing unit 140 uses information provided from the contactsensing unit 110, the motion sensing unit 120, and the external devicesensing unit 130 to recognize a function mode of the portable terminal.To this end, the recognizing unit 140 may store the holding informationof the portable terminal (the contact information and the motioninformation) for recognizing a function mode of the portable terminal asa recognition model. The information about attachment or detachment ofthe external device may also be included in the recognition model. Therecognition model may be obtained by experimentally measuring averageholding information input by users when the users use a correspondingfunction mode of the portable terminal and may be stored in the portableterminal at the time of manufacturing the portable terminal.

A user-contacted area or a motion of the portable terminal may vary fromuser to user, and the recognizing unit 140 may update the recognitionmodel according to the characteristics of a user's hold. The recognizingunit 140 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The controlling unit 160 may change a function mode of the portableterminal recognized by the recognizing unit 140. Thus, once the userholds the portable terminal to use the portable terminal in a desiredfunction mode, the portable terminal can be automatically changed to thedesired function mode based on the holding information. In other words,the inconvenience of manipulating the portable terminal throughmulti-stages to change the portable terminal to a desired function modecan be reduced. It is also understood that the control unit 160 mayprovide the state of the mode would be changed prior to changing to thedesired function mode.

In addition, the control unit 160 can provide the state of themode-changed portable terminal to the user through the user interfaceunit 150.

The user may input information about whether the changed function modeis the desired function mode through the user interface unit 150, andthe control unit 160 may provide the information to the recognizing unit140.

FIG. 7 is a detailed block diagram of the recognizing unit 140 shown inFIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 7, the recognizing unit 140 includes a storing unit142 that stores previously set recognition models; a determining unit144 that selects a function mode of the portable terminal that issuitable for information input from the contact sensing unit 110, themotion sensing unit 120, and the external device sensing unit 130; andan updating unit 146 that updates a corresponding recognition modelstored in the storing unit 142.

The storing unit 142 stores the recognition models that are criteria forrecognizing function modes of the portable terminal. The recognitionmodels are experimentally obtained according to the characteristics ofthe portable terminal and may be previously stored at the time ofmanufacturing the portable terminal. For example, when users use theportable terminal in a call mode, if experimentally obtained averageareas that are mainly contacted by the users are as shown in FIG. 5A, itis possible to set a recognition model for recognizing a case where theusers contact the average areas shown in FIG. 5A as the call mode.

The recognition model can be set for each function mode of the portableterminal by a combination of contact information and motion informationof the portable terminal, i.e., holding information based on the way inwhich a user holds the portable terminal. Information about attachmentor detachment of the external device may also be used as basicinformation for setting the recognition model. The recognition modelstored in the storing unit 142 will be described in more detail withreference to Equations 1 through 3.

The recognition model indicating a relationship between holdinginformation based on the way in which a user holds the portable terminaland a function mode of the portable terminal can be expressed usingP(M|I) indicating a probability of an predetermined function mode Mbeing selected when specific holding information I is input. Theprobability is proportional to Equation 1 according to Byes rule:P(M)P(I|M)  (1)where P(M) indicates a probability of a predetermined function mode Mbeing selected and can be calculated using Equation 2:

$\begin{matrix}{{P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X}} & (2)\end{matrix}$where X represents the number of times a user holds the portableterminal to select the predetermined function mode M and Y representsthe number of times the arbitrary function mode M is selected when theuser holds the portable terminal.

In Equation 1, P(I|M) indicates a probability of the holding informationI being input when the arbitrary function mode M is selected and can beexplained using Equation 3:P(I|M)=Π_(i)P(I_(i)|M)  (3)where I_(i) represents information input from the contact sensing unit110, the motion sensing unit 120, and the external device sensing unit130. For example, I_(i) may be the contact information of the portableterminal, which is input from the contact sensing unit 110, as describedwith reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. I_(i) may also be the motioninformation of the portable terminal, which is input from the motionsensing unit 120, as described with reference to FIG. 6. Preferably,I_(i) is information input from the contact sensing unit 110 and themotion sensing unit 120. I_(i) may also include information aboutattachment or detachment of the external device, which is output fromthe external device sensing unit 130. Thus, I on the left side ofEquation 3 represents a combination of the information input from thecontact sensing unit 110, the motion sensing unit 120, and the externaldevice sensing unit 130.

Using the recognition models stored in the storing unit 142, thedetermining unit 144 selects a function mode based on the informationinput from the contact sensing unit 110, the motion sensing unit 120,and/or the external device sensing unit 130 as the user holds theportable terminal. Here, the function mode selected by the determiningunit 144 satisfies Equation 4:arg max_(mεM)P(m|I)=arg max_(mεM)P(m)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|m)  (4)where M represents an arbitrary function mode of the portable terminaland m represents a specific function mode of the portable terminal.

Thus, the determining unit 144 may make a determination that a specificfunction mode is recognized using a recognition model that is closest toinformation input from the contact sensing unit 110, the motion sensingunit 120, and/or the external device sensing unit 130 within a thresholdamong the recognition models stored in the storing unit 142.

The updating unit 146 updates a corresponding recognition model storedin the storing unit 142 based on whether the function mode recognizedthrough the determination of the determining unit 144 is a function modedesired by the user. To this end, the updating unit 146 may update P(M)of Equation 2 as follows.

If the function mode recognized through the determination of thedetermining unit 144 is the function mode desired by the user, P(M) ofEquation 2 can be updated with

$\begin{matrix}{{P(M)} = {\frac{Y + 1}{X + 1}.}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

Unless the function mode recognized through the determination of thedetermining unit 144 is the function mode desired by the user, P(M) ofEquation 2 can be updated with

$\begin{matrix}{{P(M)} = {\frac{Y}{X + 1}.}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

The user can input information through the user interface unit 150 aboutwhether the function mode recognized through the determination of thedetermining unit 144 is desired by the user.

The recognition models stored in the storing unit 142 are graduallyupdated to fit a user's personal holding characteristics throughrepetitive recognition successes and failures of the recognizing unit140 for a function mode desired by the user based on information inputfrom the contact sensing unit 110, the motion sensing unit 120, and/orthe external device sensing unit 130 as the user holds the portableterminal. Thus, mode recognition based on the characteristics of auser's hold is possible.

Hereinafter, operations of functional blocks of the apparatus forcontrolling a portable terminal according to an embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of controlling a portableterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S110, as a user holds a portable terminal, the contactsensing unit 110, the motion sensing unit 120, and/or the externaldevice sensing unit 130 sense a way in which the portable terminal isheld based on an area of the surface of the portable terminal contactedby a user or the motion of the portable terminal.

Holding information output from the contact sensing unit 110, the motionsensing unit 120, and the external device sensing unit 130 according tothe result of sensing is provided to the recognizing unit 140, and therecognizing unit 140 recognizes a function mode of the portable terminalusing the holding information in operation S120.

Specifically, the determining unit 144 selects a function mode based onthe input holding information using recognition models stored in thestoring unit 142. The recognition models stored in the storing unit 142and mode selection of the determining unit 144 are already describedusing Equations 1 through 4.

The function mode, which has been selected by the determining unit 144and recognized by the recognizing unit 140, is provided to the controlunit 160, and the control unit 160 changes the portable terminal to thefunction mode recognized by the recognizing unit 140 in operation S130.

The changed function mode can be provided to the user through the userinterface unit 150, and the user can input information through the userinterface unit 150 about whether the provided function mode is afunction mode desired by the user.

The control unit 160 determines whether the function mode recognized bythe recognizing unit 140 is the desired function mode using theinformation input by the user through the user interface unit 150 inoperation S140 and provides information about the determination to theupdating unit 146.

If the recognized function mode is the desired function mode, theupdating unit 146 updates a corresponding recognition model stored inthe storing unit 142 in operation S150. Updating is already describedusing Equation 5.

If the recognized function mode is not the desired function mode, theupdating unit 146 updates a corresponding recognition model stored inthe storing unit 142 as described using Equation 6, in operation S160.

Hereinafter, simulation results according to an embodiment of thepresent invention will be described. A portable terminal has a total of4 function modes (an SMS mode, a digital camera mode, a left-hand callmode, and a right-hand call mode) as shown in FIG. 9.

For simulation, the contact sensing unit 110 of the portable terminalincludes a total of 16 contact sensors as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10D. Astandard signal that can be output from the contact sensing unit 110 isgenerated for each of the function modes and noise is added to thestandard signal. Thus, a total of 120 data sets are generated. Each ofthe data sets is composed of (information about an area contacted by auser, function mode).

For simulation, a standard signal for motion information output from themotion sensing unit 120 of the portable terminal is generated using amotion tracking system. The standard signal is measured with respect totwo reference axes of the portable terminal and is composed of (roll,pitch) for each function mode. Noise is added to the standard signal,and thus a total of 120 data sets are generated. Each data set iscomposed of a roll mode, a pitch mode, and a function mode.

Accordingly, when contact information and motion information are used asinput information, each input data set for simulation is comprised ofcontact information, motion information and a function mode.

Simulation is performed using a neural network system, and threeexperimental groups are formed. As shown in Table 1, basic informationis set for each of the experimental groups.

TABLE 1 Experimental Group First Group Second Group Third Group Numberof Input Nodes 18 16 2 Number of Hidden Layers 1 1 1 Number of HiddenNodes 18 18 18 Number of Output Nodes 4 4 4

In the first group, both contact information and motion information areused as input information for simulation. In this case, there are atotal of 18 input nodes, including the sum of the number of 16 data setsgenerated by 16 contact sensors and 2 data sets, that is, rollinformation and pitch information generated by the motion sensing unit.

In the second group, only the contact information is used as the inputinformation for simulation and the total number of input nodes is 16.

In the third group, only the motion information is used as the inputinformation for simulation and the number of input nodes is 2.

The number of output nodes is 4, which is equal to the number offunction modes to be recognized. In each of the experimental groups, thenumber of hidden layers and the number of hidden nodes are set to 1 and18, respectively.

A learning rate, which is a simulation parameter, is set to 0.2 and aninteraction value is set to 100. In each of the experimental groups, the120 data sets are divided into 60 training data sets and 60 test datasets. The training data sets are used to train the portable terminal andthe test data sets are used to examine the recognition success rate ofthe trained portable terminal.

Two types of simulations are performed for each of the experimentalgroups. In a first simulation, training data sets and test data sets areset as the same data sets. In a second simulation, training data setsand test data sets are set as different data sets.

A success rate of recognizing a function mode of a portable terminalusing a neural network system according to each of the experimentalgroups and a type of simulation is as shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Success Rate of Recognizing Function Mode First SimulationSecond Simulation First Group 100.00%  85.00% Second Group 95.00% 75.83%Third Group 76.67% 70.00%

As can be understood from the simulation results, even when only thecontact information is used as input information (in the second group),a high success rate is shown. Thus, the present invention can beachieved even when the portable terminal uses only the contact sensingunit 110. However, to improve a success rate of recognizing a functionmode, it is desirable to use both contact information and motioninformation as input information as in the first group.

A success rate of recognizing a function mode increases as the number ofdata sets used as training sets increases, which means a success rate ofrecognizing a function mode increases as the number of times a user usesthe portable terminal increases, as described using Equations 1 through6.

The simulation results are examples for explaining a possibility ofimplementing the present invention, and the present invention is notlimited to the simulation results.

As described above, according to the present invention, a function modeof a portable terminal is controlled according to the way a user holdsthe portable terminal, thereby providing a user with convenience ofchanging a function mode of the portable terminal through a singlemanipulation.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. An apparatus for controlling a portable terminal, the apparatuscomprising: a contact sensing unit which senses areas on all sides of anexternal surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user when theuser holds the portable terminal and determines areas of the externalsurface of the portable terminal not contacted by the user when the userholds the portable terminal in both one and two hands where the areasare specific, discrete binary contact areas on sides of the externalsurface and where at least two specific areas occur on each side; arecognizing unit which recognizes a function mode of the portableterminal based at least on a combined pattern of the sensed contactareas and the determined non-contact areas where the combined patternincludes a bit sequence to represent a state of contact of the specificareas on the sides of the external surface with a bit for each area; anda control unit which sets the portable terminal into the recognizedfunction mode, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the function modeof the portable terminal by updating the user's holding characteristicsthrough repetitive recognition successes and failures.
 2. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the contact sensing unit comprises: one or morecontact sensors which output signals indicating whether the usercontacts the contact sensors; and a contact signal processor whichcombines the signals output from the contact sensors and generatesinformation about the combined pattern.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the contact sensors are mounted on the external surface of theportable terminal.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the contactsensors are contact-type sensors that determine a contact has occurredwhen there is a direct contact by the user or contactless sensors thatdetermine a contact has occurred when the user is within a predetermineddistance of the contact sensors without directly contacting the contactsensors.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a motionsensing unit which senses a rotation angle of the portable terminal withrespect to a predetermined reference axis that is preset in the portableterminal or an angle of the predetermined reference axis with respect tothe gravity direction as the user holds the portable terminal, whereinthe recognizing unit additionally uses information sensed by the motionsensing unit to recognize the function mode of the portable terminal. 6.The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the recognizing unit comprises: astoring unit which stores a recognition model that is used to recognizethe function mode of the portable terminal; a determining unit whichcompares the information sensed and determined by the contact sensingunit and the motion sensing unit with the recognition model stored inthe storing unit and determines the function mode to be recognized; andan updating unit which updates the recognition model according towhether the function mode determined by the determining unit is afunction mode desired by the user.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, whereinthe motion sensing unit comprises an inertial sensor or an accelerationsensor to sense the motion of the portable terminal.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising an external device sensing unit which sensesattachment or detachment of an external device of the portable terminal,wherein the recognizing unit additionally uses information sensed by theexternal device sensing unit as information for recognizing the functionmode of the portable terminal.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein theexternal device is any of an earphone, a headphone, secure digital (SD)card or multi media card (MMC).
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe combined pattern substantially covers all of the external surface ofthe portable terminal.
 11. An apparatus for controlling a portableterminal, the apparatus comprising: a contact sensing unit which sensesareas of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by auser when the user holds the portable terminal and determines areas ofthe external surface of the portable terminal not contacted by the userwhen the user holds the portable terminal where the areas are specificbinary contact areas on sides the external surface and where at leasttwo specific areas occur on each surface; a recognizing unit whichrecognizes a function mode of the portable terminal based at least on acombined pattern of the sensed contact areas and the determinednon-contact areas where the combined pattern includes a bit sequence torepresent a state of contact of the specific areas on the sides of theexternal surface with a bit for each area; a control unit which sets theportable terminal into the recognized function mode; and a motionsensing unit which senses a rotation angle of the portable terminal withrespect to a predetermined reference axis that is preset in the portableterminal or an angle of the predetermined reference axis with respect tothe gravity direction as the user holds the portable terminal, whereinthe recognizing unit additionally uses information sensed by the motionsensing unit to recognize the function mode of the portable terminal,wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the function mode of theportable terminal by updating the user's holding characteristics throughrepetitive recognition successes and failures wherein the recognizingunit comprises: a storing unit which stores a recognition model that isused to recognize the function mode of the portable terminal; adetermining unit which compares the information sensed and determined bythe contact sensing unit and the motion sensing unit with therecognition model stored in the storing unit and determines the functionmode to be recognized; and an updating unit which updates therecognition model according to whether the function mode determined bythe determining unit is a function mode desired by the user, wherein therecognition model is proportional to a probability P(M)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|M),where M represents a predetermined function mode of the portableterminal, I_(i) represents the information about a contact area, whichis sensed by the contact sensing unit, the rotation angle, or the anglewith respect to the gravity direction, which is sensed by the motionsensing unit, P(M) represents a probability of the function mode M beingselected when the user holds the portable terminal, P(I_(i)|M)representsa probability that the user contacts the contact area I_(i) when thefunction mode M is selected, the portable terminal rotates the rotationangle I_(i), or the reference axis of the portable terminal is inclinedby the angle I_(i) with respect to the gravity direction.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein P(M) is calculated by${{P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X}},$ where X represents the number of times theuser holds the portable terminal to select the function mode M and Yrepresents the number of times the function mode M is selected when theuser holds the portable terminal.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, whereinthe function mode determined by the determining unit satisfies argmax_(mεM)P(m|I)=arg max_(mεM)P(m)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|m), wherein m represents aspecific function mode of the portable terminal.
 14. An apparatus forcontrolling a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising: a contactsensing unit which senses areas on sides of an external surface of theportable terminal contacted by a user when the user holds the portableterminal and determines areas of the external surface of the portableterminal not contacted by the user when the user holds the portableterminal; a recognizing unit which recognizes a function mode of theportable terminal based at least on a combined pattern of the sensedcontact areas and the determined non-contact areas; a control unit whichsets the portable terminal into the recognized function mode; and amotion sensing unit which senses a rotation angle of the portableterminal with respect to a predetermined reference axis that is presetin the portable terminal or an angle of the predetermined reference axiswith respect to the gravity direction as the user holds the portableterminal, wherein the recognizing unit additionally uses informationsensed by the motion sensing unit to recognize the function mode of theportable terminal, wherein the recognizing unit comprises: a storingunit which stores a recognition model that is used to recognize thefunction mode of the portable terminal; a determining unit whichcompares the information sensed and determined by the contact sensingunit and the motion sensing unit with the recognition model stored inthe storing unit and determines the function mode to be recognized; andan updating unit which updates the recognition model according towhether the function mode determined by the determining unit is afunction mode desired by the user, wherein the recognition model isproportional to a probability P(M)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|M), where M represents apredetermined function mode of the portable terminal, I_(i) representsthe information about a contact area, which is sensed by the contactsensing unit, the rotation angle, or the angle with respect to thegravity direction, which is sensed by the motion sensing unit, P(M)represents a probability of the function mode M being selected when theuser holds the portable terminal, P(I_(i)|M)represents a probabilitythat the user contacts the contact area I_(i) when the function mode Mis selected, the portable terminal rotates the rotation angle I_(i), orthe reference axis of the portable terminal is inclined by the angleI_(i) with respect to the gravity direction, wherein P(M) is calculatedby ${{P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X}},$ where X represents the number of times theuser holds the portable terminal to select the function mode M and Yrepresents the number of times the function mode M is selected when theuser holds the portable terminal, wherein the function mode determinedby the determining unit satisfies arg max_(mεM)P(m|I)=argmax_(mεM)P(m)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|m), wherein m represents a specific functionmode of the portable terminal, and wherein updating of the recognitionmodel is made such that the P(M) is updated with${P(M)} = \frac{Y + 1}{X + 1}$ when the function mode determined by thedetermining unit is a function mode desired by the user and P(M) isupdated with ${P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X + 1}$ when the function modedetermined by the determining unit is not the function mode desired bythe user.
 15. A method for controlling a portable terminal, the methodcomprising: sensing areas on all sides of an external surface of theportable terminal contacted by a user when the user holds the portableterminal and determining areas of the portable terminal not contacted bythe user when the user holds the portable terminal in both one and twohands; where the areas are specific, discrete binary contact areas onsides of the portable terminal and where at least two specific areasoccur on each side; recognizing a function mode of the portable terminalusing a combined specific area contact pattern of the sensed contactareas and the determined non-contact areas where the combined patternincludes a bit sequence to represent a state of contact of the specificareas on the sides of the external surface with a bit for each area; andsetting the portable terminal into the recognized function mode, whereinthe recognizing unit recognizes the function mode of the portableterminal by updating the user's holding characteristics throughrepetitive recognition successes and failures.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the sensing comprises: outputting signals from one or morecontact sensors; and combining the output signals and generatinginformation about the combined pattern.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the one or more contact sensors are mounted on the externalsurface of the portable terminal.
 18. The method of claim 16, whereinthe one or more contact sensors are contact-type sensors that determinea contact has occurred when there is a direct contact by the user orcontactless sensors that determine a contact has occurred when the useris within a predetermined distance of the contact sensors withoutdirectly contacting the contact sensors.
 19. The method of claim 15,further comprising sensing attachment or detachment of an externaldevice of the portable terminal and additionally using the sensedattachment or detachment to recognize the function mode of the portableterminal.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the function mode of theportable terminal is any of SMS (Short Message Service) mode, MP3 mode,camera mode, left-hand call mode or right-hand call mode.
 21. The methodof claim 15, further comprising requesting the user to confirm whetherthe recognized function mode is a function mode desired by the user. 22.The method of claim 15, wherein the combined pattern substantiallycovers an entire external surface of the portable terminal.
 23. A methodfor controlling a portable terminal, the method comprising: sensingareas on all sides of an external surface of the portable terminalcontacted by a user when the user holds the portable terminal anddetermining areas of the portable terminal not contacted by the userwhen the user holds the portable terminal in both one and two hands;where the areas are specific, discrete areas on sides of the portableterminal and where at least two specific areas occur on each side;recognizing a function mode of the portable terminal using a combinedspecific area contact pattern of the sensed contact areas and thedetermined non-contact areas where the combined pattern includes a bitsequence to represent a state of contact of the specific areas on thesides of the external surface; setting the portable terminal into therecognized function mode; and sensing a rotation angle of the portableterminal with respect to a predetermined reference axis that is presetin the portable terminal or an angle of the predetermined reference axiswith respect to the gravity direction as the user holds the portableterminal and additionally using the sensed angle to recognize thefunction mode of the portable terminal, wherein the recognizing unitrecognizes the function mode of the portable terminal by updating theuser's holding characteristics through repetitive recognition successesand failures.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein said recognizingcomprises: storing a recognition model that is used to recognize thefunction mode of the portable terminal; comparing the combined patternand the sensed angle with the stored recognition model and determiningthe function mode to be recognized; and updating the recognition modelaccording to whether the determined function mode is a function modedesired by the user.
 25. A method for controlling a portable terminal,the method comprising: sensing areas of the portable terminal contactedby a user when the user holds the portable terminal and determiningareas of the portable terminal not contacted by the user when the userholds the portable terminal; where the areas are specific areas on sidesof the portable terminal and where at least two specific areas occur oneach side; recognizing a function mode of the portable terminal using acombined specific area contact pattern of the sensed contact areas andthe determined non-contact areas where the combined pattern includes abit sequence to represent a state of contact of the specific areas onthe sides of an external surface; setting the portable terminal into therecognized function mode; and sensing a rotation angle of the portableterminal with respect to a predetermined reference axis that is presetin the portable terminal or an angle of the predetermined reference axiswith respect to the gravity direction as the user holds the portableterminal and additionally using the sensed angle to recognize thefunction mode of the portable terminal, wherein the recognizing unitrecognizes the function mode of the portable terminal by updating theuser's holding characteristics through repetitive recognition successesand failures, wherein the recognition model is proportional toprobability P(M)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|M), where M represents a predeterminedfunction mode of the portable terminal, I_(i) represents the informationabout a contact area, the rotation angle, or the angle with respect tothe gravity direction, P(M) represents a probability of the functionmode M being selected when the user holds the portable terminal, P(I₁|M)represents a probability that the user contacts the contact area I_(i)when the function mode M is selected, the portable terminal rotates therotation angle I_(i), or the reference axis of the portable terminal isinclined by the angle I_(i) with respect to the gravity direction. 26.The method of claim 25, wherein P(M) is calculated by${{P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X}},$ where X represents the number of times theuser holds the portable terminal to select the function mode M and Yrepresents the number of times the function mode M is selected when theuser holds the portable terminal.
 27. The method of claim 26, whereinthe function mode determined by the determining unit satisfies argmax_(mεM)P(m|I)=arg max_(mεM)P(m)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|m), wherein m represents aspecific function mode of the portable terminal.
 28. The method of claim27, further comprising updating the recognition model according towhether the recognized function mode is a function mode desired by theuser.
 29. A method for controlling a portable terminal, the methodcomprising: sensing areas on sides of the portable terminal contacted bya user when the user holds the portable terminal and determining areasof the portable terminal not contacted by the user when the user holdsthe portable terminal; recognizing a function mode of the portableterminal using a combined pattern of the sensed contact areas and thedetermined non-contact areas; setting the portable terminal into therecognized function mode; and sensing a rotation angle of the portableterminal with respect to a predetermined reference axis that is presetin the portable terminal or an angle of the predetermined reference axiswith respect to the gravity direction as the user holds the portableterminal and additionally using the sensed angle to recognize thefunction mode of the portable terminal, wherein the recognition model isproportional to probability P(M)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|M), where M represents apredetermined function mode of the portable terminal, I_(i) representsthe information about a contact area, the rotation angle, or the anglewith respect to the gravity direction, P(M) represents a probability ofthe function mode M being selected when the user holds the portableterminal, P(I_(i)M) represents a probability that the user contacts thecontact area I_(i) when the function mode M is selected, the portableterminal rotates the rotation angle I_(i), or the reference axis of theportable terminal is inclined by the angle I_(i) with respect to thegravity direction, wherein P(M) is calculated by${{P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X}},$ where X represents the number of times theuser holds the portable terminal to select the function mode M and Yrepresents the number of times the function mode M is selected when theuser holds the portable terminal, wherein the function mode determinedby the determining unit satisfies arg max_(mεM)P(m|I)=argmax_(mεM)P(m)Π_(i)P(I_(i)|m), wherein m represents a specific functionmode of the portable terminal, wherein further comprising updating therecognition model according to whether the recognized function mode is afunction mode desired by the user, wherein updating of the recognitionmodel is made such that P(M) is updated with${P(M)} = \frac{Y + 1}{X + 1}$ when the function mode determined by thedetermining unit is a function mode desired by the user and P(M) isupdated with ${P(M)} = \frac{Y}{X + 1}$ when the function modedetermined by the determining unit is not the function mode desired bythe user.
 30. A method for controlling a portable terminal, comprising:sensing two or more external areas on each of all sides of an externalsurface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holdsthe portable terminal and determining external areas of the portableterminal not contacted by the user as the user holds the portableterminal in both one and two hands where the areas are specific binarycontact areas on the external surface; and selecting a function mode ofthe portable terminal based at least on a combined pattern of the sensedexternal areas contacted by the user and the determined contact areasnot contacted by the user where the combined pattern includes a bitsequence to represent a state of contact of the specific areas on thesides of the external surface with a bit for each area, wherein therecognizing unit recognizes the function mode of the portable terminalby updating the user's holding characteristics through repetitiverecognition successes and failures.
 31. The method of claim 30, furthercomprising sensing a motion of the portable terminal.
 32. The method ofclaim 31, wherein said selecting is additionally based on the sensedmotion.
 33. The method of claim 30, further comprising sensingattachment of an external device to the portable terminal.
 34. Themethod claim 33, wherein said selecting is additionally based on thesensed attachment.
 35. The method of claim 30, further comprising askingthe user to confirm whether the selected function mode is a functionmode desired by the user.
 36. The method of claim 35, further comprisingupdating a recognition model stored in the portable terminal accordingto whether the selected function mode is a function mode desired by theuser.
 37. The method of claim 30, wherein said sensing senses thecontact areas as the user holds the portable terminal in a free manner.38. The method of claim 30, wherein the combined pattern substantiallycovers all of the external areas of the portable terminal.
 39. Aportable terminal operable in two or more function modes, comprising: anexternal surface having sides; a plurality of binary contact sensorsarranged to sense two or more areas on each of all sides of the externalsurface contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal inboth one and two hands and to determine areas of the external surfacenot contacted by the user as the user holds the portable terminal in oneand two hands; and a recognizing unit to determine a function mode forthe portable terminal to operate in based at least on a combined patternof the two or more contact areas sensed by the contact sensors and thenon-contact areas determined by the contact sensors where the combinedpattern includes a bit sequence to represent a state of contact of thespecific areas on the sides of the external surface with a bit for eacharea, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the function mode of theportable terminal by updating the user's holding characteristics throughrepetitive recognition successes and failures.
 40. The portable terminalof claim 39, wherein at least one of the contact sensors is acontact-type sensor capable of sensing a direct contact with theexternal surface.
 41. The portable terminal of claim 39, wherein atleast one of the contact sensors is a contactless sensor capable ofsensing a contact when the user is within a predetermined distance ofthe external surface without directly contacting the external surface.42. The portable terminal of claim 39, further comprising an inertialsensor to sense a motion of the portable terminal.
 43. The portableterminal of claim 39, further comprising an acceleration sensor to sensea motion of the portable terminal.
 44. The portable terminal of claim39, wherein the function modes include a call mode and a camera mode.45. The portable terminal of claim 39, wherein the external surfacecomprises front and back surfaces and at least some of the contactsensors are arranged in the front and back surfaces.
 46. The portableterminal of claim 45, wherein the external surface further comprises twoopposite side surfaces and at least some of the contact sensors arearranged in the two opposite side surfaces.
 47. The portable terminal ofclaim 45, wherein the external surface further comprises top and bottomsurfaces and at least some of the contact sensors are arranged in thetop and bottom surfaces.
 48. The portable terminal of claim 39, whereinthe contact sensors are arranged to sense the contact areas as the userholds the portable terminal in a free manner.
 49. The portable terminalof claim 39, wherein the contact sensors are arranged to coversubstantially all of the external surface of the portable terminal. 50.A portable terminal, comprising: an external surface having sides;binary contact sensors arranged to sense two or more areas on each ofall sides of the external surface contacted by a user when the userholds the portable terminal and to determine areas of the externalsurface not contacted by the user when the user holds the portableterminal in both one and two hands; and wherein, the portable terminalis set into a function mode corresponding to a combined pattern of thetwo or more contact areas sensed by the contact sensors and thenon-contact areas determined by the contact sensors, and wherein thecombined pattern includes a bit sequence to represent a state of contactof the specific areas on the sides of the external surface with a bitfor each area, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the function modeof the portable terminal by updating the user's holding characteristicsthrough repetitive recognition successes and failures.
 51. The portableterminal of claim 50, wherein the contact sensors are arranged to coversubstantially all of the external surface of the portable terminal. 52.A portable terminal, comprising: an external surface having sides;binary contact sensors arranged to sense two or more areas on each ofall sides of the external surface contacted by a user when the userholds the portable terminal and to determine areas of the externalsurface not contacted by the user when the user holds the portableterminal in both one and two hands; and a user interface unit whichprovides a state of the portable terminal to the user based at least ona combined pattern of the two or more contact areas sensed by thecontact sensors and the non-contact areas determined by the contactsensors where the combined pattern includes a bit sequence to representa state of contact of the specific areas on the sides of the externalsurface with a bit for each area, wherein the recognizing unitrecognizes the function mode of the portable terminal by updating theuser's holding characteristics through repetitive recognition successesand failures.
 53. The portable terminal of claim 52, wherein the contactsensors are arranged to cover substantially all of the external surfaceof the portable terminal.
 54. A method for operating a portableterminal, comprising: binary contact sensing two or more external areason each of all sides of the portable terminal contacted by a user as theuser holds the portable terminal and determining external areas of theportable terminal not contacted by the user as the user holds theportable terminal in both one and two hands; and providing a state ofthe portable terminal to the user based at least on a combined patternof the sensed external areas and determined non-contact areas where thecombined pattern includes a bit sequence to represent a state of contactof the specific areas on the sides of the external surface with a bitfor each area, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes the function modeof the portable terminal by updating the user's holding characteristicsthrough repetitive recognition successes and failures.
 55. The method ofclaim 54, wherein the combined pattern covers substantially all of theexternal areas of the portable terminal.
 56. A method for controlling aportable terminal, the method comprising: sensing areas on all sides ofan external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user whenthe user holds the portable terminal and determining areas of theportable terminal not contacted by the user when the user holds theportable terminal in both one and two hands; where the areas arespecific, discrete areas on sides of the portable terminal and where atleast two specific areas occur on each side; recognizing a function modeof the portable terminal using a combined specific area contact patternof the sensed contact areas and the determined non-contact areas wherethe combined pattern includes a bit sequence to represent a state ofcontact of the specific areas on the sides of an external surface;setting the portable terminal into the recognized function mode; andsensing an angle of the predetermined reference axis with respect to thegravity direction as the user holds the portable terminal andadditionally using the sensed angle to recognize the function mode ofthe portable terminal, wherein the recognizing unit recognizes thefunction mode of the portable terminal by updating the user's holdingcharacteristics through repetitive recognition successes and failures.57. A method for controlling a portable terminal, the method comprising:sensing areas on all side of an external surface of the portableterminal contacted by a user when the user holds the portable terminaland determining areas of the portable terminal not contacted by the userwhen the user holds the portable terminal in both one and two hands;where the areas are specific, discrete areas on sides of the portableterminal and where at least two specific areas occur on each side;recognizing a camera function mode of the portable terminal using acombined specific area contact pattern of the sensed contact areas andthe determined non-contact areas where the combined pattern includes abit sequence to represent a state of contact of the specific areas onthe sides of an external surface; and setting the portable terminal intothe recognized camera function mode, wherein the recognizing unitrecognizes the function mode of the portable terminal by updating theuser's holding characteristics through repetitive recognition successesand failures.